Shutting down NDBs

[smv]

Wow...

5 Dec 2019
Shutdown SIDNEY NDB
30 Jan 2020
Delete BROADUS NDB
Delete CIRCLE NDB
Delete JORDAN NDB
Delete MALTA NDB
Delete PLENTYWOOD NDB
Delete ROUNDUP NDB

Pretty much "cleans up" all of eastern Montana.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

FAA needs to go back to charting AM broadcast stations on VFR charts.

I have just completed a project to provide a KML overlay that can be used in Foreflight and other EFBSs which shows the location, frequencies, and call signs of all AM radio stations in the US. So you can turn the layer on, zoom in on a target area, and find nearby stations to use with your ADF (well, my plane still has one

Available at my flying page at http://steinmetz.org/peter/flying/index.html.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

When I tune in commercial stations on my NDB, it's usually either shouty old talk radio hosts who want me to know that they're ANGRY ABOUT EVERYTHING!, classic country, or golden oldies from the 40s and 50s. I never manage to find the games.

I’ve actually thought of maybe enhancing the overlay map with some kind of format indicator in the description, but would need to find a database of that or some way to autoscrape the web.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Way cool! Thanks for posting this! Now to figure out how to script it so its auto-updating. lol.

You ‘re welcome. It is a script to generate the file, but I am not sure how it could get pushed to Foreflight.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

NDB's as you noted probably dont cost much to keep running (though I think if the FAA had their way, we'd all be flying the purple line which unlike NDB's doesn't require local resources or cost the FAA anything at all really) and of the approximately 3,000 VOR stations globally, the US had approximately 1/3 of them so we can certainly afford to drop some VOR stations. I'd like to think this move away from NDB/VOR is well thought out but then the FAA's track record on these things isn't the greatest (such as their decision a few years back to remove from charts the lighted-mail-routes used in Montana for mountain passes and then forgetting where they were when someone noticed and said hey, maybe we shouldn't remove these since they're still active...)

When I was flying in Northern MN 2 years ago I met some FAA and MN state officials at Grand Marais/Cook County (KCKC). I asked them why they were up that way. They explained they were evaluating removing several of the NDBs in northern MN. Apparently these are paid for by the state.

I see they are still on the charts, so don’t know what happened to that plan :emoji848:

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Montana does still have some beacons charted on the Sectional. Far as I know, the only state that still maintains navigation beacons. Here are a couple examples from the Great Falls sectional.

View attachment 85759
View attachment 85760

Really very interesting. I had no idea these were still around.